DROP-OFF RECYCLING SITE NOTE: Small cardboard (small enough to fit in a brown paper bag) can go in the Paper, Boxes and Bags category at the Recycling Sites. Otherwise please use the Large Cardboard bin. If your cardboard for drop-off is very large, avoid the difficulty of loading it into a Drop-off Recycling Site bin and instead take it to the Drop-Off Center. Ask the attendant to point out the cardboard tipping area.

CURBSIDE RECYCLING NOTE: Our curbside trucks are designed to collect day-to-day quantities of cardboard from households. Please observe the following limits:

Size: To be accepted curbside, cardboard must be in pieces under 2 feet by 2 feet. They must also fit in the cart with the lid shut.
Larger boxes are accepted at the Drop-Off Recycling Sites and at the Drop-off Center.

Quantity: Businesses and institutions which regularly generate larger quantities of cardboard can recycle it either at the Drop-off Recycling Sites, at the Drop-off Center, or by setting up collection service through any of the waste haulers serving Emmet County (specify separate collection for recycling). Call 231-348-0640 for our brochure on cardboard recycling for businesses.

HOW:

All boxes are accepted together in the same drop-site bin

Flatten all boxes

Remove plastic bags, styrofoam and other packing materials

Both gray and white boxboard are okay

Glossy printing on the boxes is not a problem. The non-recyclable “waxed” boxes literally are covered in wax which you can scrape off with your finger nail.

Please bag your shredded paper. This prevents it from blowing away if it is collected curbside AND makes it possible for the sorters to send it to it’s “highest and best use”. Please use a bag that is at least semi-transparent (i.e a white plastic grocery bag) so the drivers and sorters know what is inside.

**Shredding now available by appointment at the Drop-off Center!
We now offer document shredding service by appointment at the Drop-off Center for $5/copy-paper box or equivalent. Call 231-348-0640 for an appointment. Remember to remove binders and spiral bound booklets/pads, binder clips, and hanging folders (with the metal bars). No need to remove paper clips, staples, pastel colored papers, manila file folders, glue or staple bound booklets/pads, light cardboard. Note: Documents are NOT automatically shredded in the ordinary sorting and baling process.

If you have large quantities of books to recycle curbside, please spread them out over several weeks so they don’t weigh down the tote or cart too badly.

Libraries and institutions: If you have large numbers of books to recycle, please call 231-348-0640. We’ll set up a convenient system for you to recycle them. Large numbers of books at curbside or in the drop-site bins cause trouble on the sort line. Thank you!

The cartons you recycle supply Great Lakes Tissue (GLT) in Cheboygan (in the former Proctor and Gamble plant on Main Street). Cartons are composed of three layers: an outer, printed plastic layer; a white middle layer made up of high quality paper; and an inner layer including plastic and sometimes aluminum. GLT uses a machine called a hydropulper to separate the paper from the plastic and/or aluminum. They produce napkins, paper towels, and facial tissues from the recovered paper. Great Lakes Tissue can use wine boxes, broth/soup cartons, paper cups and paper ice cream tubs, so you can recycle those, too!